By The Moon - 3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

I woke up screaming again. Tears flooding my eyes. I scrambled for my light switch. I started to freak out when I couldn’t find it. But I soon remembered that I was now in Jordan’s house.

I finally reached the light switch and sat down on my bed crying. But as soon as I sat down my door was thrown open. Chase, Jordan, and Grey all barreled in. Jordan and Chase were wearing normal clothes while Grey was wearing just boxers. They all seemed alert.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Chase looked across the room. His face paler than it normally was. He seemed worried.

Grey came over and sat down on the bed. “What’s wrong, Mark? Why were you screaming?” His voice was soft and calming. I started to cry. Chase and Jordan came down and sat as well. The tears were flowing freely against my wishes. I didn’t want them to see me cry. I felt weak and powerless. I was the weakest one. I couldn’t defend myself and I got hurt so much.

Chase decided to wrap his arms around me and to hold me. I knew that he didn’t mean it like I wanted him to but it felt good all the same. I wrapped my arms around his waist and cried.

They all waited until I was able to form coherent sentences. When I was able to I tried to explain why I was screaming and why I was crying without telling them I was gay. I didn’t know how they would react. Jordan seemed to already know but he didn’t seem to think the others would act the best to the news.

After about two hours Grey and Jordan left the room. Chase decided to stay and try to help me get back to sleep.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Mark?” Chase’s glittering emerald eyes shined with the light of the stars outside.

I nodded and averted my eyes. I laid down and pulled the blankets up and fell asleep. The first thing I felt in my dream was the feel of soft lips against my cheek. Soon the blackness took over.

I awoke to the bright shining light of the sun. I hated mornings but I was happy. After waking up from the dream and going back to sleep I didn’t have it again. Maybe it was starting to go away.

I walked out of my new room and down the stairs into the kitchen. No one was there and there was no sign of any food being eaten at all this morning. I opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs.

After finding some ingredients in the huge pantry stocked with uneaten food, I started to make an omelet. When I heard some people start to make there way down stairs and into the living room to look at the weather I started to make some more. I made four, for the rest of them and myself.

After the weather had been changed to a cartoon, I decided to bring the food out. Chase was watching Static Shock and Grey was working on a sketch. Jordan had just gotten up and was facing me. His eyes automatically homed in on the food.

“Food?” His eyes questioning.

“Yeah. Do you want it? It’s okay if you don’t” I started to apologize. I really hoped that they would like it.

Chase’s head popped up from behind the sofa. “Food?” His voice was bright and ever loud. He jumped up and reached for the plates. He stopped and looked to me for confirmation. When I nodded he eagerly took the plate and started to eat. As did Jordan. Grey was a little slower than those two, his eyes we semi-closed and his face was twisted up into a scowl. He took the plate with a small thanks and proceeded to eat while sketching. I sat down on the sofa next to Chase. I couldn’t fool myself. I was falling for Chase. But I shouldn’t. It wouldn’t work out.

Grey kept looking at me. He seemed to be angered. I didn’t know why, but he seemed to look at me for a second then to look around me before he looked back to his sketch. This only happened every 30 minutes or so. Jordan found his amusement in poking me discreetly. Every time I turned to stop his he acted like he didn’t do anything. The jerk.

“What happens now?” Chase was intently watching the television and Grey was to absorbed in his drawings to hear me.

“Well, since school start in a couple weeks we need to get you enrolled. But we don’t need to do that for a while. So now we just relax and enjoy the last days of summer.” He reclined in the chair and pulled his sunglasses over his eyes when the sun shined inward into the room.

With nothing to do I decided to go for a walk around the grounds. No one followed me and I was alone. I really didn’t mind I just didn’t want to be too far away so that I didn’t get hurt. Again. I shuddered at the thought. I never wanted to even remotely have that happen again. It brought up painful memories. Ones that were better left buried. It had only happened a month ago and I was dealing well. I didn’t want to hinder my success.

The woods near their property was really vast and dark. I felt most at home around the old trees. The dark grass twining itself around my ankles and pulling downwards. After I reached a spot I deemed nice I laid down and looked around. There were trees for as far as I could see. But that wasn’t saying much because I could see 60 feet ahead of me due to the amount of trees here. Barely any sunlight shone through the treetops giving the illusion of twilight.

“Hey buddy.” I jumped and spun around. I didn’t think anyone was around. I was also terrified that HE was back. My heart was racing at an unbelievable level. Fear coursing through my veins. I started to hyperventilate. The person, whoever they were ran towards me and caught me as I fell.

I opened my eyes and there was Zachary. He was holding me. I didn’t think he would be back this soon. He was supposed to be gone for two months. I wrapped my arms around him and held him close. I wasn’t going to let him leave this time.

“Mark? Are you okay? I heard about what happened.” He set me down against a tree and sat down right next to me. I leaned my head on his shoulder and he explained what he had heard. It brought back all the memories. The ones that were supposed to stay hidden away. I didn’t want to seem weak in front of him more than anyone else but I couldn’t help but to cry. He comforted me and held me when I needed to be held. He was my closest friend, my savior. Without him I would be nothing. That was probably why I was in love with him. But he didn’t like me like that. He knew that I was gay and he didn’t care, but he didn’t want me to feel excited thinking I would have a chance. I knew he loved me, but he loved me like a brother. And that was good enough for me.

After my tears had dried I lifted my head off his shoulder and wiped the salty water off of my face. “Thank you Zachary.” I paused, “For being there when no one else could be.” I leaned down and kissed him. He didn’t protest but he didn’t really react either. I didn’t know which one was better. But I stood up and started to walk.

“Ya coming?” I turned back to him and beckoned for him to follow. I felt bad that I kissed him but if I didn’t I might never get the chance again. Okay, now I am exaggerating, but it felt like that.

He got up slowly and followed me. After showing him the land and telling him about everyone, I lead him up to the back door and went in.

I lead him up to my room to show him what it looked like. He stood in front of one of my mirrors. His dirty blond hair was cut short, I always asked him to grow it longer just to see what it would look like but he never did. He said it made his dark blue eyes stand out. It was true but I still thought he should have grown it out. It would look even hotter. He liked to wear normal t-shirts, and he looked awesome in them. The jerk. But no matter what he wore he is still just Zachary to me.

“Can you stop ogling me?” His voice ungratefully pulled me out of my thought. He was looking at me now, very uncomfortable by the looks of it.

“But your so hot….” I whined. Yes I seriously used my high pitched whiny voice. I’m not proud of it.

“Well it’s making me feel weird. So how do you like it here? Is it better than your house?”

“Well yeah. The people here are nice and caring and actually want me there. And I also feel accept me.” I felt so happy. Not a troubled thought in my mind. But then again, no matter how high you are you must come back down..

“Well then just stay here! I don’t want you to be my friend either! I realize that I’m not good enough for your standards!” He yelled, his face flushed with blood. His hands were clenched at his sides. I didn’t understand why he was so angry.

“Why are you angry?” I asked trying to stay calm. But my voice was starting to raise. I really didn’t understand why he was making a big deal over whatever it was.

He calmed down when he saw how upset I was. “Your trying to replace me.” He said simply. Was it really something that stupid?

“Why would I ever want to replace you? I mean I love you. You’re my best friend. I couldn’t replace you even if I wanted to.

“But you seem so happy here. And you kept saying how home wasn’t that nice and how no one cared and how the people here were so much better. I felt like you didn’t want to be around me anymore.” He sat down on the bed with me. After we both had calm down we talked. We talked until the sun started to set. Chase or Jordan or Grey sometimes came up but when they saw that I had a friend over they left as calmly as they came in. I really didn’t want him to leave but he said that he had to go to a Pack meeting. I tried to convince him to stay but he insisted that he go.